Appeals Court Finds Garvey Didn't Foul Out in Infomercial-host Role

Advertisers have long appreciated the value that celebrities bring to the promotion of their product.  But despite the advertisers' unrelenting confidence in this celebrity-driven model, the attorneys who negotiate such deals and the government agencies that regulate content for truth in advertising have been struggling with increasing difficulty in recent years over a fundamental legal issue underlying all of these campaigns: To what extent should liability for false-advertising claims extend beyond the advertiser to the celebrity who makes the claims?

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has answered the question, at least in part, in the long-awaited decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Garvey, 2004, finding that baseball legend Steve Garvey was not liable for statements he made while appearing in two infomercials for the Enforma System weight-loss product.

For reprints or additional information, contact .